Good luck in China

Chinese Cuisine

A fine Chinese meal is a carefully balanced mixtures of flavors, textures, colors and food types. Although Western fast food has made major inroads in the cities there is still a great appreciation as food as one of the finer pleasures in life. Etiquette at formal banquets is important for visitors to understand before visiting China. Each region in China has its own variations with regional specialities, the cuisine in Guangdong is very different from that of Gansu. Read More

One of the most widely seen Chinese characters in China is 褔fú the character for good fortune or luck. You see it painted everywhere: on wind chimes, pots, posters as a decoration. A look at its origin gives a feel of the complexity and longevity of symbols in Chinese culture. It also represents the God of Fortune (Fu) who is part of the good luck trinity of Fu, Lu and Shou.

The character for good fortune consists of the radical for auspicious or heaven sent to the left. The separate right-hand symbol for wealth or abundance also pronounced fù富 but with a falling fourth tone itself comprises of three elements. At the top is a roof, underneath is the abbreviated form of the character for high and at the bottom is the symbol for field田tián. Taken together the three elements have the meaning of storing produce piled high from a good harvest; the most ancient and potent indicator of wealth and good luck.

Upside-down

Fu is widely seen on Chinese New Year posters. In many cases the poster is deliberately hung upside down. This needs a bit of explanation as there are several stories explaining how this came about ➚. Firstly if you look at the character fu there is a certain vague resemblance to the character for upside down dao. The character dao can mean both 倒dǎoupside down or fall and 到dàoarrive only differing in tone. Combining the meaning of dao and fu gives the idea of good fortune raining down from the heavens. So placing fu upside down is increasing the possibility of good fortune. It may also have something to do with bats (see following) that hang upside down. This is somewhat similar to the European custom of lucky horseshoes ; it is a symbol for good luck one way up but if placed upside down is an ill omen as the luck falls out of the horseshoe.

Arguably Guizhou's most famous export is Maotai liquor. It's a potent distilled spirit made from fermented sorghum and often used for toasts at banquets for visiting dignitaries. It's also very expensive.

Now the central government has put on a ban for Guizhou local government employees from taking a lunchtime tipple. Not just maotai but all alcoholic drinks are banned - unless special dispensation is given. It's part of a government initiative to improve efficiency in local government. It's no longer going to be acceptable to doze through the afternoon in a semi-drunken stupor!

Lucky bats

The Chinese love puns. Another character that is pronounced the same way as fu (in the Beijing dialect) is fú蝠 for bat. So drawings of bats in a design bestow a wish for good fortune. The character consists of fù富wealth with the radical chóng虫 for insect - as bats eat insects. The good luck motto 蝠子天来fú zǐ tiān lái literally ‘bats come down from the sky’ means ‘let good fortune come down on you’.

The five bats in a design represent the five lucky gods and the five blessings: long life, wealth, health, virtue and peaceful death. The central bat is placed on top of another widely used good luck symbol, this is shòu寿 the symbol for the god of longevity Shouxing.

Chinese arts and handicrafts are full of hidden symbols. Bats, goldfish, peonies and bees all give a specific meaning to a painting or decoration. Exploring the world of Chinese symbolism opens up a whole new layer of appreciation.

Imagination has led to the creation of many artistic versions of the character for good luck. Some of the designs are based on the ancient seal form of the character. Here are some examples.

The fourth version above has the ‘fu’ element on its own.

The first version above is an example of the character upside down. The fourth is of ‘fu’ on its own.

The first and third versions above have the ‘fu’ element on its own.

For a video of the character fu being written as calligraphy please see following You Tube video.

Gladness 喜xǐ

In addition to the symbol for good fortune, the other character commonly seen to wish for good luck and happiness is xǐ. It is a representation of a ‘drum’ and a ‘mouth’ suggesting a celebration. Two xi characters joined together form the 'double joy' symbol seen particularly at marriages. The character crops up in many two character wishes including 有喜yǒu xǐ 'have joy' usually used when a couple are expecting a child.